Health: Vaccines

Cases Of Chickenpox Down Sharply

August 18, 2005|By Los Angeles Times

The start of infant chickenpox vaccinations a decade ago has led to an 88 percent decline in hospitalizations and a 59 percent drop in doctor visits associated with the disease, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Death rates have dropped from about 150 a year before the immunization program to an average of 66 per year, according to recent statistics.

The study, conducted by researchers at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that the decreased number of chickenpox

related hospital visits had resulted in a savings of $63 million a year in medical expenses.

But "the payoff of the vaccine program still remains far from clear,'' said Dr. Matthew M. Davis of the University of Michigan in an editorial accompanying the study.

For example, the CDC estimates that the cost of vaccinating 4 million children a year is about $144 million.

Abigail Shefer, a CDC epidemiologist and co-author of the study, acknowledged that it was not a complete economic analysis, omitting such potentially large costs as lost wages from parents taking off from work to care for infected children.

The study, based on an analysis of 500 million private health insurance claim records, also did not address the costs incurred by those not covered by insurance. *